All the news about the University of Maryland study that distinguishes gluten sensitivity from celiac disease has prompted us to share our recent Gluten-Free Living interview with lead researcher Alessio Fasano, MD.
Fasano, director of the Center for Celiac Research, sat down with me for an extended interview for our last issue published in 2010. He covered a wide range of topics. One was gluten sensitivity and the particular challenges it present to those who have it and the doctors they visit looking for answers.
You can read the full interview on our website.
Amy Ratner
Showing posts with label gluten sensitivity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten sensitivity. Show all posts
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Gluten Sensitivity Gets Legitimate
Their symptoms might have been lumped into a catch-all category of irritable bowel syndrome, or they might even have been told it was all in their head. Then came growing awareness and a consequent increased interest in research and better testing methods. Ever so slowly but surely it became easier to get diagnosed and return to good health through a gluten-free diet.
Now, it seems, the same process is beginning for those who are gluten sensitive.
Like celiac disease patients before them, people who have gluten sensitivity have long been frustrated by the fact that doctors can not pinpoint what is wrong. Their tests for celiac disease are usually negative, and they are often advised not to follow the gluten-free diet even though it relieves their celiac-like symptoms.
New research from the University of Maryland may mark the beginning of the end of that scenario.
In a study published online at BMC Medicine, scientists from the Center for Celiac Research found that gluten sensitivity is a bona fide condition, distinct from celiac disease, with its own intestinal response to gluten.
"The research provides the first scientific evidence of a different mechanism leading to gluten sensitivity," the celiac center said in a press release. "It also demonstrates that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are part of a spectrum of gluten-related disorders."
Alessio Fasano, MD, the lead investigator of the study and the director of the celiac center said one end of the spectrum is made up of people with celiac disease who can't tolerate even a crumb of gluten, while at the other end gluten causes no problems.
"In the middle, there is this murky area of gluten reactions," he said. "This is where we are looking for answers about how to diagnose and treat this recently identified group of gluten-sensitive individuals."
The study included 26 gluten sensitive and 42 celiac disease patients, plus 39 control subjects. Although gluten sensitive patients have the diarrhea, abdominal pain and other symptoms suffered by those with celiac disease, they do not have the damage to the absorbing lining of the small intestine that characterizes the auto-immune disorder.
After a four month gluten-challenge followed by a return to the gluten-free diet, symptoms in all the gluten sensitive participants resolved in a few days and did not return for a follow-up period of four years.
Researchers found differences between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity in intestinal permeability and genes regulating the immune response in the gut.(Intestinal permeability is the ability of the mucosal layer of the digestive tract to prevent bacteria, antigens, and undigested food proteins from seeping through the gastro-intestinal barrier. Those who have celiac disease often have a high degree of permeability, sometimes called a leaky gut, but the study found that was not the case in those who are gluten sensitive.)
The study documents, for the first time, the genes and sequence of reactions in the small intestine possibly associated with gluten sensitivity, Fasano said. Results of the study could lead to all-important tests that could diagnose gluten sensitivity.
About six percent of the US population, or about 18 million people, have gluten sensitivity, according to the celiac center, compared to 1 percent who have celiac disease.
While results of the study are new, Fasano's conviction that gluten sensitivity is a legitimate condition has come up before. In an interview in Gluten-Free Living late last year (Number 4/2010), he said gluten sensitivity had always been disregarded by the medical and scientific communities. And he noted the desperation of those who suffered from its very real symptoms. "There is definitely a group..who are really and truly sensitive to gluten and when you remove gluten they don't have symptoms," Fasano said.
He alluded to the new study when he said the celiac center had some papers coming out that would start to give clues to some possible markers that could be looked at to make a diagnosis of gluten sensitivity.
Now one of those papers is here. In the gluten-sensitive community you could feel the satisfaction that came with acknowledgement that the conditions is, in fact, real. (No one could blame them for wanting to say "I told you so.")
Now let's hope the diagnostic tests aren't too far behind.
Amy Ratner
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| Alessio Fasano |
Not that long ago, many people who had celiac disease could not find a doctor who knew what was what was wrong with them.
Their symptoms might have been lumped into a catch-all category of irritable bowel syndrome, or they might even have been told it was all in their head. Then came growing awareness and a consequent increased interest in research and better testing methods. Ever so slowly but surely it became easier to get diagnosed and return to good health through a gluten-free diet.
Now, it seems, the same process is beginning for those who are gluten sensitive.
Like celiac disease patients before them, people who have gluten sensitivity have long been frustrated by the fact that doctors can not pinpoint what is wrong. Their tests for celiac disease are usually negative, and they are often advised not to follow the gluten-free diet even though it relieves their celiac-like symptoms.
New research from the University of Maryland may mark the beginning of the end of that scenario.
In a study published online at BMC Medicine, scientists from the Center for Celiac Research found that gluten sensitivity is a bona fide condition, distinct from celiac disease, with its own intestinal response to gluten.
"The research provides the first scientific evidence of a different mechanism leading to gluten sensitivity," the celiac center said in a press release. "It also demonstrates that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are part of a spectrum of gluten-related disorders."
Alessio Fasano, MD, the lead investigator of the study and the director of the celiac center said one end of the spectrum is made up of people with celiac disease who can't tolerate even a crumb of gluten, while at the other end gluten causes no problems.
"In the middle, there is this murky area of gluten reactions," he said. "This is where we are looking for answers about how to diagnose and treat this recently identified group of gluten-sensitive individuals."
The study included 26 gluten sensitive and 42 celiac disease patients, plus 39 control subjects. Although gluten sensitive patients have the diarrhea, abdominal pain and other symptoms suffered by those with celiac disease, they do not have the damage to the absorbing lining of the small intestine that characterizes the auto-immune disorder.
After a four month gluten-challenge followed by a return to the gluten-free diet, symptoms in all the gluten sensitive participants resolved in a few days and did not return for a follow-up period of four years.
Researchers found differences between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity in intestinal permeability and genes regulating the immune response in the gut.(Intestinal permeability is the ability of the mucosal layer of the digestive tract to prevent bacteria, antigens, and undigested food proteins from seeping through the gastro-intestinal barrier. Those who have celiac disease often have a high degree of permeability, sometimes called a leaky gut, but the study found that was not the case in those who are gluten sensitive.)
The study documents, for the first time, the genes and sequence of reactions in the small intestine possibly associated with gluten sensitivity, Fasano said. Results of the study could lead to all-important tests that could diagnose gluten sensitivity.
About six percent of the US population, or about 18 million people, have gluten sensitivity, according to the celiac center, compared to 1 percent who have celiac disease.
While results of the study are new, Fasano's conviction that gluten sensitivity is a legitimate condition has come up before. In an interview in Gluten-Free Living late last year (Number 4/2010), he said gluten sensitivity had always been disregarded by the medical and scientific communities. And he noted the desperation of those who suffered from its very real symptoms. "There is definitely a group..who are really and truly sensitive to gluten and when you remove gluten they don't have symptoms," Fasano said.
He alluded to the new study when he said the celiac center had some papers coming out that would start to give clues to some possible markers that could be looked at to make a diagnosis of gluten sensitivity.
Now one of those papers is here. In the gluten-sensitive community you could feel the satisfaction that came with acknowledgement that the conditions is, in fact, real. (No one could blame them for wanting to say "I told you so.")
Now let's hope the diagnostic tests aren't too far behind.
Amy Ratner
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Info-packed new issue of Gluten-Free Living
We started mailing our new issue to subscribers yesterday.
We think you'll love the colorful cover photo of Chinese food. Inside you'll find a collection of Asian recipes from China, Japan, India and Thailand by contributing editor Jackie Mallorca. She's included everything from saffron rice to stir-fried sesame beef to curried pork with coconut milk. We also have an update on testing for gluten in soy sauce and tips on how to use a wok.
In fact, Gluten-Free Living now includes a new feature - 10 things you may not know but will after you read this issue. Here's sample of what it includes:
We think you'll love the colorful cover photo of Chinese food. Inside you'll find a collection of Asian recipes from China, Japan, India and Thailand by contributing editor Jackie Mallorca. She's included everything from saffron rice to stir-fried sesame beef to curried pork with coconut milk. We also have an update on testing for gluten in soy sauce and tips on how to use a wok.
In fact, Gluten-Free Living now includes a new feature - 10 things you may not know but will after you read this issue. Here's sample of what it includes:
- Hard cider is a GF alternative to beer that's easy to find.
- Starbucks says none of its drinks are gluten free because of cross contamination in its coffee shops.
- Understanding the science of baking will help you make better GF bread.
- One of the biggest manufacturers of over-the counter drugs in the US is about to start putting a GF label on its products.
You can find the other six items on the table of contents page of the new issue, which you can see along with the cover on our website.
In addition to the package of stories on Asian cuisine, we have features on GF beverages, covering everything from flavored water to wine. Most drinks are gluten free - Hurray- but we did find barley malt and wheat in a few odd places.
We have all struggled to make tasty GF bread, so it's with particular pleasure that we feature Chef Richard Coppedge of the Culinary Institute of America in our interview in this issue. He has some fascinating things to say about the key to making GF baked goods that will rival any made with wheat flour.
We're also happy to feature Dr. Peter Green of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University on the topic of how to distinguish between celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and gluten intolerance. Although Gluten-Free Living was started as a magazine for those who have celiac disease, we now see ourselves as a valuable resource for anyone who is following the GF diet.
With that in mind, we have our first story about use of the gluten-free, casein-free diet to treat autistic children. Editor/Publisher Ann Whelan spoke to respected autism authors Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis to write her story about why and how parents implement a GF diet to help their children reach their full potential. At Gluten-Free Living, we can help those parents by providing good information about the GF portion of the diet.
As always, we have answers to your questions about ingredients and information about labeling of GF foods. In our "Ask the Doctor" column, Ivor Hill, MD, answers readers' questions about children and celiac disease, including important details about follow up care after diagnosis. In our "Should I Worry About" column, we lay out the facts on gluten in medications.
It's easy to see why we have been so busy putting out this information-packed issue! If you want to become a regular reader, it's easy to subscribe.
We have already started on our next magazine, but we now have a little more time to post to this blog and to tweet about all the interesting things happening in the GF world. You can follow us on Twitter as gfliving.
There are lots of ways to find us and get a little help in leading your happy, healthy GF life!
Amy
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